The last day of the Texas school’s spring break. (Whew) As was fitting, the week of mayhem ended with winds of seventy miles an hour and torrential rain. The photo of the beach shows calm but overcast which is how it appeared after the storm. I took a walk Saturday morning, and there were some tents and campers severely damaged. (By the way, the weather folks gave us all plenty of warning) All campers should have left the beach, so it is hard to feel sorry for them. I lost a strip of siding in the wind. How that happened, I have no idea. It must have been loose but if I could have prevented it I did have enough warning just not the knowledge.

This Feature is titled Fifty-Two Views of the Gulf and was intended to run for a year, The year will be up on Sunday, April 3rd. I plan to create a montage that will be a permanent piece on the sidebar. ( I hope) Next week I’m going to run a poll to see if you would like the feature to continue under the title One View of the Gulf Fifty-Two Times. I hope you will vote your preference. There will be a number of choices. Thanks, all.

Last week’s photo.

 

Beautiful day here on the island. Had to maneuver around to avoid spring breakers in the picture. Nothing like a bunch of half dressed teens asking me to take off my shirt for some beads to ruin an image.

I thought I would post one of the last photos of the crossover. I took it from the beach side and it gives you an idea of the scope of the thing. The debris around the base of the structure is what the high tides brought in. That black thing sticking up in the air is a sign warning trespassers that our area is mined and patrolled by black ops mercenaries. (just kidding). It does inform the lost that this is private property

That little mound on the left is the piece of the dune that the pictures previous to the walk over would show. I now take the Gulf picture from the platform to the left of the sign.

Last week’s photo

Today is beautiful with temps in the seventies. This shot was taken from the top of the walk over and as you can see it is peaceful and quiet. We expect the spring breakers to start showing up the weekend of the 12th so now we are relaxing with the solitude.

As you can see the walk over is finished. This is the entrance.

This is the ramp to the beach. Those little blue barrels in the distance are temporary markers to let spring breakers know there is no parking between the barrels and the dune.

Last week’s photo

I am still offering the Kindle addition of His Revenge at $0.99 through 11:59 tonight. Since I’ve said enough about the sale I’ll leave it at that.

 

 

 

Here is the regular view this week. Of course, I have to make accommodations since the walkover has not moved. The next few photos will show you where the walkover stands as of Friday.

 

Here is the beginning of the walkover. The Gulf is straight ahead.

 

The first turn is ahead.

 

You can now see the Gulf.

 

A little closer now. You can see that the walkway takes a turn to the left up ahead.

 

Here is a bench where you can take a rest and look over the beach.

 

Here is a look at that left turn. You can see the walkway ends on the sand. This part is not finished as yet.

 

I am standing on the walk way in the approximate position of all the other photos. Those dark lines in the sand are car and truck tracks. Beautiful day in the mid 70’s, light winds. Yes, that thing in the air to the left that looks like a drawing of a gull is a gull

Last week’s photo.

 

 

Here is the first photo taken from my usual position.

 

As you can see there is a bunch of construction in the way. This part of the walkway will be a rest area (don’t laugh) with a bench. Here is where folks can take some time to look over the gulf and enjoy a sunrise or two. Since this view doesn’t show any of the Gulf I cheated and moved a little to the left.

 

Ahhh. That’s better. These posts will support the ramp that gradually slopes down to the beach. The weather is beautiful and unseasonably warm. The Gulf water temperature is 67 F which is about 10 degrees warmer that normal. The highs are in the mid-seventies and lows in the 60’s. All in all very pleasant.

Last week’s photo

 

I have a confession to make. This week’s photo was taken on Friday Morning instead of Saturday. I am out-of-town and could not get a shot on Saturday morning. I am happy to report the weather is about the same. You can see that the walkover is beginning its movement to the beach. Those pieces of equipment are there to handle the wood and poles. Also, there are nine new poles that have been buried since my last photo on Thursday. The view of the Gulf is definitely obscured by the construction. The other item taking up the view is an RV that has been parked on the beach for a week. The police have not done anything and the thing should have been moved four days ago. Ah, the joys of having precious tourists squat wherever they want. Happy Valentine’s Day to all.

Last week’s photo

 

 

This week’s photo was taken about an hour earlier than usual. The sun is right up front in the picture and no way to avoid it. The seas are calm, and the wind is down to a reasonable amount. The calm waters reflect these conditions. The temp at the time of the photo was 64 degrees. The high today is expected to be about 68 degrees or so. We had the engineer from the city out on Friday, and the go-ahead was given to start the incursion onto the beach. The walkway will at the point of entry make a turn to the left for the final switch back. I hope to see some progress and be able to take a picture of it at that point. Here is a shot of where construction stood at the close of the workday Friday.

This is at the start of the crossover and the Gulf is straight ahead beyond the dunes.

Here is last week’s photo

 

 

I finally got my bearings on where the path used to be. The weather is lovely. In the mid 7o’s during the day and high 50’s at night. The walk over is behind me but creeping forward toward the water.  I think by next week it will be making its way into the picture.

Last week’s photo